House OKs mandatory biometrics registration

MANILA, Philippines - The House of Representatives has unanimously approved on third and final reading a bill pushing mandatory biometrics registration for the 2010 national elections. House Bill 6052, filed by Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., was approved by 186 lawmakers during Tuesday's plenary session. The bill requires all registered voters whose biometrics have not been captured to appear before the election officer of their place of registration to have their photographs, fingerprints, and signatures captured through the biometrics method. This Automated Fingerprint Identification System will enable the Commission on Elections to clean the records of double or multiple registrants, according to Locsin, who also chairs the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms. The bill is one of the priority measures that Speaker Prospero Nograles has said he wants approved before Congress' second regular session ends on June 6. - Johanna Camille Sisante, GMANews.TV